You can check out all our participants here for our fall/winter challenge.  I don’t know about you but I am seeing Halloween candy everywhere!  I don’t normally gravitate to sweets, I am more of a pretzel girl, but after seeing mini snickers and milky ways, my resolve starts to waiver.

But I had a good week.  I didn’t work out as much as I wanted, but I plan to change that this week.  Since yesterday was my lazy rest day, today I plan on doing some exercise on demand and if the rain stops, go for a long walk.

My other goals for the week?  No wine, in bed by 11:00, drink my water.  šŸ˜€

Hannah and I stopped by some garage sales and went to Goodwill yesterday afternoon.  I scored on a couple really old cookbooks:

That one is from the Borden company that makes evaporated milk, so every recipe has evaporated milk in it.  Everything from scalloped potatoes to lemon sponge pie.  I kinda threw up at the idea of jellied chicken though!  The part I found fascinating though is that the recipe club members gave suggestions such as this:

Few people seem to know that the flavor of steak smothered with onions is greatly improved by squeezing over it the jucie of a lemon.

And some members needed help:

Miss Kimble of Bimfield Indiana wants recipes for mangoes.  Also she inquires whether alligator pears are used in any way except for salad.  Perhaps some of our California or Southern members can send us the information, which we will pass on to Miss K.

I also found a Halloween snowman!  New readers might not know about my small obsession with snowmen. šŸ˜€

I haven’t done my full grocery shop, but plan on doing that today, so I just picked up a couple steaks and shrimp for dinner.  I had an idea to make cheddar drop biscuits, but when I made this recipe, the dough was a lot stiffer than I am used to, so I was able to use my biscuit cutter so they looked really pretty.

Only one teeny tiny problem.  Their recipe said it made 15-17 biscuits.  Um, mine made six!  I don’t even want to know what the points are (probably 10) but these were amazing – a little crunch on the bottom, but tender and flakey on the inside.

One secret I have when I make biscuits or scones is to put my butter in the freezer for 30 minutes before using it, and then I use my box grater and grate the cheese into the flour.  I think my biscuits are more tender that way because the butter stays really cold.  Here’s a crappy picture, but it does look like shredded cheese!

Here is our shrimp cocktail – if you haven’t made shrimp cocktail at home, this is the perfect recipe – it comes out great each and every time.

Tony manned the grill for me šŸ˜€  I had about 2 ounces of each steak – one was a New York strip and the other was a ribeye.  The ribeye was kinda fatty, so the dog got a lot of that one. šŸ™

If you made it down this far (thanks!) I’ll leave you with one last recipe.  I’ve been making lunches for my SIL since she started WW.  I am proud to say she’s down nearly 18 pounds!  You are doing great Jody!

Well, I decided to make her a dish that I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, but I know she loves tuna.  Sorry Jody, I forgot to buy an onion this week, so your meals are onionless this week. šŸ˜€

Skillet Tuna Noodle Casserole for One (11 points plus)

  • 2 ounces dry whole wheat penne
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 tablespoons flour
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 cup canned peas
  • 1/2 cup canned tuna (packed in water)
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon whole wheat breadcrumbs

Cook the noodles according to package directions and drain.  In a pot, add butter and when melted, add the flour and cook for 1 minute.  Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly, until thickened.  Stir in tuna, peas and 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, remove from heat, then stir in cooked noodles.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put in an ovensafe dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs, and put under the broiler until nice and bubbly.

This is half a serving below, so it’s a pretty generous serving for 11 points.

Hope you like it Jody!  Keep up the great work!

My holiday challenge goal was to lose 23 pounds.  I lost 1.2 this week, so I have 21.8 pounds to go. šŸ˜€

How did your first week go?  Anybody need some cheerleaders or did you want to share what a great week you had?

Alright, I am waiting for the Sandwich King to come on before going to the store – I usually want to make whatever he’s making!  Enjoy your Sunday!